Movie Reviews

Insightful but not likeable enough

Victek | 09/06/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Perhaps because I'm in middle age and have gone through a few relationships I could see the mistakes Stuart and Nicole were making all along the way to sabotage their relationship. I admired that in some ways the film was very honest. For instance it is not self-conscious about nudity and sex. When the couple begin to explore sex they simply take off their clothes. They don't walk out of the bathroom wearing bathrobes, the camera doesn't start hiding behind the furniture, etc. At a certain point the film politely draws the curtain, which is appropriate and preferable to the fake sex scenes we usually get in Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, the film's honesty is not enough. I found myself unable to care enough about Stuart and Nicole to stay engaged as their marriage gradually came apart. I found Stuart in particular quite unlikeable. His need to control and his air of self-importance put me off. Neither Stuart nor Nicole reaches out to anyone who could possibly help them. What is the point of Stuart talking to Nicole's girlfriend who doesn't believe in marriage and commitment, or Nicole's mother who has never liked him and tells him bluntly that she won't help? Given that they supposedly care about their relationship is it realistic that they do not reach out to anyone who really might be able to help - a counselor, therapist, minister, rabbi? Perhaps some people allow their relationships to crash and burn in this way, but it ain't pretty and I can't recommend watching it, except perhaps as a cautionary tale."

Julianne Nicholson Looks Great in 'Pajamas'

M. Montgomery Grey | Pittsburgh, PA United States | 05/25/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Flannel Pajamas" is anchored primarily by the heartbreaking performance of lead actress Julianne Nicholson. This realistic depiction of love forming and falling apart works on a scene by scene basis, especially in several brilliantly written exchanges that Nicholson and co-star Justin Kirk play with the perfect blend angst, confusion, and hope. As a whole, the film could stand to be twenty minutes shorter, ditching several underdeveloped subplots and peripheral characters. Stylistically, the movie feels a bit dated. Digital video may have better captured its voyeuristic examination of contemporary married life. But this is an exercise in content, not form, and Nicholson makes it all worthwhile."

In the end broken-hearted, and not even sure how it started.

nychen | GA, USA | 11/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A strange title for a film, "Flannel Pajamas" isn't at all what I thought it was when I first saw the trailer maybe a year or so before I saw the actual film. I thought it was a movie about a couple, a romance of sorts that goes awry but maybe has a happy ending...well it is indeed about a couple, one that meets unexpectedly amongst friends, a romance ensues and does go awry and well, there's a happy ending depending on how you look at the characters, and from whose point of view.

Both the characters, Nicole (Julianne Nicholson) and Stuart (Justin Kirk) are like-able but with developing flaws as they progress deeper into their relationship. Doesn't that always happen in real life? You think you know someone, date them, marry them and they aren't who you thought they were...

A very realistic portrayal of two people in love with having someone to love, but aren't truly in love with each other as life, work, family and all those nitpicks start to crack their relationship. I enjoyed the banter and talk between the characters, conversations you can imagine about living together, money, changing jobs, having a dog, a child and especially family gatherings that you must attend but hate.

The one thing that bothered me throughout the movie was the upfront nudity. It's not unnatural, but it seems excessive for a movie...or maybe this is to show each character's openness and vulnerability, I'm not sure but it's so casual it's weird. There is that questionable scene in Stuart's apartment where Nicole undresses timidly, and that's the most uncomfortable scene I've seen in a movie in awhile...I think it says alot about both characters, where their relationship is based, and where it falls apart in a way. That uncomfortable willingness to please one another while not entirely pleasing oneself, and thus no one is really happy.

Another scene that touched me, is when Stuart is crossing the road and sees a couple with a child and tears up. Beautiful, yet so dark, so alone. It's a moment where it seems like a child would've saved their marriage, but that's brought on by Nicole's constant insistence and Stuart's resistance of the whole situation.

I thought it strange too, about the whole financial storyline, where Nicole seems so dependant on Stuart, but only because he was the first to bring it up - offering to pay for so many of her "baggages"/ideas. Isn't so true that most marriages break up because of money issues? I agreed with Stuart's character when he bluntly told Nicole he didn't want a family if he couldn't provide for them. That maybe sounded so selfish to Nicole, but in real life, that sounds so reasonable. Is it not?

The first 10 minutes of the movie, I was thinking I wasn't going to like "Flannel Pajamas", but in the end, I definitely RECOMMEND it. There is a rawness to the story, the characters and how sometimes you just end up broken-hearted, and you have no idea how you got there."

A Raw And Brutally Honest Look At Long-Term Relationships In

Eric Ericson | Venice, Florida USA | 01/25/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Where do I start with this one? I'm gonna cheat a bit and give a promotionally given synopsis first (I never do this, but you'll see why in a minute):

"A study of a relationship that starts quickly, burns bright, and then gets rocky, not from any one thing, but from an accumulation of civilization and its discontents. Stuart is glib and generous, Nicole is shy and forthright. He doesn't like her best friend; she tires of his brother's antics. She wants children sooner. He's a poor listener, she broods. Both have divorced parents, and their families complicate their lives. Is love enough to see them through?"

Does this sound familiar and/or close to home? If you're a male between the ages of 25 and 40 it should, or you haven't been in enough long-term relationships that ended in heartbreak (lucky you). Starring Weeds' Justin Kirk and L&O's Julianne Nicholson (who actually doesn't look like a tomboy lesbian in this one). But reading this above synopsis only tells a small part of the story, and not that correctly to begin with. This is not a comedy, it's real life. The struggle between trying to make two totally different entities, a man and a woman, compatible. What gets you about this film is the utter honesty of how romance between a couple inevitability changes between dating and marriage, and how one or more parties cannot accept that fact. In alot of ways it showed to me why the divorce rate is so high for my generation than my parents, that we as a society and age-group find it so hard to make ourselves better suited for our partners until the damage is done and it's too late. Alot of people (myself included) have said "They need to accept me for who I am", but that's easier said than done. This film shows what early love and long-term coupling is all about, and what will eventually come to pass, no matter how successful your relationship seems. And because this is an independent production, unlike Hollywood ones that take this subject matter lightly, this is raw and brutally honest. Even the amount of nudity, and trust me there's alot, both female and male from it's two stars, isn't very romantic or sexy but real and relationship-like. At times watching this couple slowly fall apart due to the stubborness of it's members is very hard to watch, and for most comes too close to home, at least it did for me. And for it's ending, it leaves you broken and dissatisfied just like the loved ones that got away from your past. Not a fun movie to watch, but anyone who would like not to live their lives alone should see it to know what to expect if it doesn't work out like what Hollywood constantly tells you it will.(RedSabbath Rating:8.0/10)"